New Journal and pinterest

I finally filled my former journal and needed a new one-kept putting off making one then decided that i
have plenty of books i've made in the past that were just sitting there waiting to be used.  So I introduce
my newest journal-made at Artfest in 2002.  It was an Albie Smith class-whom i adore.  I think i've taken
four classes with her in the past and every one of them was great-she is a great teacher and you come away

with a finished product. If you ever get a chance to take a class of hers-do it, you won't be sorry!

Have you discovered Pinterest yet?  It is so addicting but so full of inspiration.  I've done a few things on there (tutorials) that i've found and made a few recipes that were really good.  Here are some fabric hearts i made recently-inspired by things i had seen.  Today i made crock pot chicken and dumplings~they were pretty good for a short cut of the real thing-didn't stop me from eating them!

Happy 50th Anniversary to my Parents

  January 27, 1962 they said "I Do." 
He was on leave from the Navy, she was in last semester of college.  He went back to Hawaii and she finished school-then they got to live "Happily Ever After."

50 years 3 children, 4 grandchildren and 2 bonus grandkids later, they still do~
We love you mom and dad!

Jeanne Art

These were done by my friend jeanne-she doesn't have a blog so i "blog" stuff to pin for her :)  check out my pinterest board "friends art" to see more.

(under donna joy)

Anatomy of an Art Piece

Thought i would chronicle a piece of fabric art this week.  I was given a wonderful stash of rusty metal pieces
some years ago-chicken wire, old bed springs, barbed wire, misc large pieces of metal-you get the picture.  I knew i wanted to use some of the chicken wire on a fabric piece-so I got the base of the piece ready and attached the wire to it.  There it sat.  

 Last week i went through some fabrics to start in on this piece.  I knew i wanted a western theme to go with the chicken wire.  Reds of course.  This is what i gathered to use on the piece. 

I then picked my "base" fabrics that the rest of my "collage" and images would be built on.
I then layed out the images to decide on their placement.

 Here you see i've removed the middle image-decided it was too much.  I'm trying out my belt piece but not really liking it.

 I decide to go with a large rusted nail-what has it got to do with cowgirls?  Don't know but i liked the look along with everything else.  Originally i was going to make this piece with the short side top and bottom.   After playing around, decided to turn it in this configuration.







After allot of playing around, this is how the piece turned out.
 Images layered with burned papers, a suede piece to finish off the top and bottom along with the fringe-because a cowgirl needs a bit of fringe.

 

 Closer looks at some areas of the piece.
And there you have many hours chronicled in these photo's. 
I think i'm happy with how it turned out~

My Word for the Year

I've never been one of those to pick a word for the year.  I've never been one to sit and ponder deep thoughts about the world and my life-that's just not me.  (i'm not saying i'm stupid, just don't do the really deep thinking like some that i know)  there is nothing wrong with it~my brain just doesn't think that way :)
  So this year I decided it was time to put on my "big girl pants" and get over it.  (life, not the word thing)
My word is...

It is time to :

I have heard on Oprah that people have to "accept the new normal" to get past the "stuff" that has happened~only then can they move on.  After all that has happened in my life in the last 2 1/2 years, I am going to try really hard to let it go so to speak~all I have done is dwell on "what was" instead of "what is."
Over~thinking too many things. (at least according to one person)  The past is what it is, nothing can change it so with the new year, it's time to move on best I can and live.

My Latest Scores (for the grand sum of $1.00)

I've been lucky the past few weeks with "trash finds" and one goodwill find that cost me 1.00.

I happened to be in the store the week of Christmas-saw a lady holding a wooden box that she picked up from the shopping cart of "new" stuff.  I thought "you really don't need that-I do"  :)   It worked because she put it back.  I casually walked over to pick it up, inspected it for show and took it.  It's not in great shape, but love the patina/words.  It's sitting on top of some suitcases in my bedroom now.

My next finds were trash finds.  The lampshade is wire based-like you see now w/"stuff" hanging off of and decorated cool.  This one still has the fabric on it so i'll leave it like that until i decide to deconstruct it.

Second, my french doors-intact, no broken glass-must have remodeled.  2 houses down so they were carried home in the night~   Gary didn't seem too happy since i have other "future projects" sitting in the house and garage.  That is one of my goals for the year: to finish some of these things-or in some cases to start!   I've tackled one of those this week.  Found an old chair some time ago that I cut up for "parts" to use in mixed media.  The legs were still intact.  I had some leftover wood from a repair in the house so i cut it down a bit and screwed it onto the legs.  I made a cushion of foam and will cover it w/fabric for a stool/leg rest.  Just need some nails as my staple gun won't penetrate the dense wood. It's a start!

Wooden Tree

Made this in dec-used carpet tack strips (recycled)
 attached to a board and added glitter glue~simple project

(Almost) Happy New Year

 Been busy this week creating in between visiting with my aunt and uncle who are visiting this week
from St Louis (how do you like our 70 degree december days?) They head home tomorrow-just in time
since we'll be getting a cold snap on sunday-but colder in st louis!    I made a fabric "card" for a friends birthday that you can see here.  (i deleted my pictures w/out realizing they hadn't been uploaded) 
  I made this little crown for another friend. The rhinestones on the tips are vintage-they have little channels
running under them to sew them on.  I can't imagine what it would have been like to have to sew a bunch of
those on a dress!

 These two wall hangings were gifts to me-the framed piece was made for me by Traci and i love it-it now hangs in my bathroom where i can see it every day.  The kelly rae piece was from Margo-it too hangs in my bathroom-the colors went so well in there it had to stay!

  I worked on this wall hanging this week for the newest member of our family: Emma Klaire.  She makes me a great-great cousin!  am i even old enough to be that?  She arrived in sept and I finally decided what i wanted to create for her.   I added the glittered mini clothespin so Krystal can change out what photo she puts on display.  Made a soldered piece which i hammered her name into-hope she likes it!

crown made for me from another friend~love it!

 Look for the latest edition of The Pulse on sunday 

where you can see the answer to a question i was asked. :)

Master Class

This and That

Thought it was about time to get on here and update my blog.  Last two weeks have been a bit busy with family obligations-My nephew had his first band concert this month-he's playing the saxophone.  I was impressed on how good they sounded for just 3 months into band~ way to go Patrick!

   The first image shown here is a fabric piece i did for a friend for Christmas.  The image is a bit shiny due to the transfer paper, but you get the idea.  I originally tried using some muted pinks but they just weren't working, so i grabbed a red i had nearby-and then the piece just flowed.  When i had it all put together and finished I realized "no wonder the pinks weren't working-black/white/red (off white) are her colors"

I wasn't even thinking of that when i was working on it-but my subconcious sure was! 

 This plate of goodies was a gift to me and my family. Needless to say they taste as good as they look.   The presentation was wonderful too as i now have a felted star ornament to boot!

This piece was done for another friend for Christmas.  I knew what colors i wanted to use for her-creams/black/browns-her colors.  The fabrics came together pretty quickly-it was the image i had a harder time deciding on.  Normally i would pick fabrics based on the image, but not this time.  I found this image last week at an antique mall and knew she would work. I decided to add the "pop" of  red inside the tin-because it is something that she would not do.  :)  The other pictures are just some details of the finished piece.